


A Sunny Day

by kinkwriter



Series: Lies [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Anxiety Issues, First Meeting, M/M, school-related humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8953663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinkwriter/pseuds/kinkwriter
Summary: Hopefully the man would catch the hint and leave.“You’re Galen Erso,” Krennic said and Galen sighed.Or not . . .“Listen, I don’t know which of your friends dared you to come over here—”The officer cut him off with a benign smile. “None. I daresay they would not want even the least of their acquaintances to be seen with you.





	

They were all staring at him . . . again. No doubt the latest round of rumors about Galen’s dressing down in front of his class had already circled through the academy. Apparently sustainable exo-planets run on advanced crystal energy technology was too far out of the realm of possibility. He grimaced as he thought of how stagnant society had become. The same droid and holo technology from a thousand years ago was still in use. 

The Republic had been established, and when there was no more fighting—no more war—their people stopped advancing. It was only now that the separatists had begun moving that they were suddenly interested in new ideas.

But only for making war.

Galen felt a bead of sweat form on his brow; the sun was high, and before long his shirt would be sticking to his skin. He could have gone and sat at one of the tables in the shade, but that would mean sitting close to the other students and listening to them stage-whisper their disdain for a rim-world interloper. 

Perhaps they were correct. He’d never felt welcome at the Science Academy, and no amount of perfect test scores or the status of his full ride scholarship would convinced anyone that he belonged there. Especially not Professor Waznes. Galen still regretted his actions on the first day of school, but he hadn’t known it was Waznes’ theory that he was supposed to prove. Instead he’d  _ disproved _ it.

In front of everyone in class.

At first, his peers had been impressed, but Waznes was the senior instructor at the school; his reputation for the last thirty years was built on his theory of energy containment. The man hadn’t been happy, and he’d made his opinion well known the last three semesters. And it had all come to a head when Galen had presented his own ideas for clean sustainable energy—which had included an . . .  _ updated _ version of Waznes’s energy containment theory. Waznes had all but called him a liar and then proceeded to berate him for wasting class time. 

“What you’re proposing is nothing but a fantasy,” the professor had said loudly. “An impossible feat that no group of humans could ever hope to achieve—not to mention your power source. Kyber crystals?  _ Really? _ They give off negligible power and there aren’t enough in the entire galaxy to even power a village. Get your head out of the clouds and quit wasting our time.”

Galen could disprove everything the professor had said. His research backed up his claims, but the laughing and jeering and the smug satisfaction that had rolled off the instructor’s face had caused him to swallow and simply sit down, unable to voice his objections as his anxiety had taken over.

He looked over his data-pad as he sat there in the courtyard of the school. The heat was beginning to wear on him, but there were few places he could go. Even his dorm room was shared with another boy who could not help throwing snide comments his way. Galen sighed and reached down into his shirt and pulled the shard of crystal from beneath the material. It shone like a jewel in the sun for a second before he shoved it back out of view.

He shook his head and nearly threw his datapad back down on the table in agitation.

“That’s no way to treat your research,” a voice said from beside him.

Galen’s brow furrowed as he looked up. The man’s face was blocking the sun, so his features were partially obscured, backlit as he was by the noontime light. Galen did, however recognize the officer's uniform. A dark grey suit denoting his position as a member of the starfleet of the Galactic Republic. It wasn’t unusual for officers to be found wandering around the Science Academy—after all, there were several military grants given by the Senate to develop the next generation of offensive and defensive technology. 

Seconds ticked by as Galen continued to examine the man. He was clearly older than Galen’s own twenty years, though not by much.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s worthless,” Galen answered, looking away.

The man paused before seating himself beside the student at the small table. He didn’t pick up the data padd, rather, he stared at it from a curious distance.  

“I’m Lieutenant Orson Krennic,” he said, and Galen finally met the steel blue eyes of the officer. His lips were thin and his hair was dark, but his overall bearing was that of a man used to commanding others.  _ They were all like that,  _ Galen thought sourly. He’d only ever interacted with a few officers during his time at the Academy. They always gave him a cursory glance-over, but when they realized that his research was geared towards maximizing energy efficiency with the goal of completely sustainable living, they ignored him, as did most of Galen’s peers.

The Galactic Science Academy might have been the most prestigious engineering school in the Republic, but what Galen had realized shortly after he’d begun attending was that the school was, in reality, more of a pipeline for the most intelligent students to be further indoctrinated and then transitioned into the Republic’s own research and science divisions—usually with military applications.

He had little interest in such a career, and officers only ever showed interest in students for one reason. Galen grimaced as he muttered a response, shifting his body away from Krennic's. Hopefully the man would catch the hint and leave.

“You’re Galen Erso,” Krennic said and Galen sighed.

_ Or not . . . _

“Listen, I don’t know which of your friends dared you to come over here—”

The officer cut him off with a benign smile. “None. I daresay they would not want even the  _ least _ of their acquaintances to be seen with you. 

Galen’s jaw tightened at the insult. “Then what are you doing here?”

Krennic’s smile widened. “I saw your presentation on the kyber crystals. Your ideas for a man-made exo-planet that could be powered cleanly by these crystals. I found it quite fascinating.”

Galen snorted in derision. “If you saw the presentation, then you also no doubt saw Professor Waznes tell anyone who cared to listen that it was all a pack of lies.”

Krennic’s head tilted to the side in moderate agreement. “And yet, I saw you clutching that very data-pad while the professor was speaking. Every time he made a point dismissing your theory, your hand moved as though to show it.”

Galen licked his lips before snorting. “You’re more observant that most, Lieutenant, but it doesn’t change anything. It was a mistake to come here to this school. I should have just stayed on Grange,” he said bitterly.

Krennic raised a brow. “I suppose your father is a miner, just like everyone else who lives there.”

He glared at the officer. “And what of it? It’s a good trade that put food on the table and made it possible for me to be sitting here.”

A perfectly smooth black glove came up in defense. “I meant no offense, but you did not stay on Grange to be ordinary. You came here to do something great.”

Galen’s smile was all teeth. “Yes, and I’m doing a bang-up job so far.”

“We all have our set-backs,” Krennic said with a shrug.

He shook his head, looking away. Krennic either hadn’t picked up on the fact that Galen was uninterested in the conversation or he simply didn’t care. The student was banking on the latter.

“Look, my research doesn’t have any military applications, so you can quit wasting your time—and mine,” Galen said tiredly.

Krennic didn’t seem offended; if anything, he seemed amused. “Why? Do you have some pressing engagement in this blistering heat that has failed to materialize as of yet?”

Galen blinked stupidly at the question. Of course he didn’t. No one wanted to talk to  _ Galen Erso _ . . . except, apparently, Orson Krennic. A smile tugged at his lips and the lieutenant caught the look and gave him a smile of his own. It transformed Krennic’s face into something almost . . . goofy looking. His brows rose in response to the endearing expression and Krennic instantly dropped the smile, a gloved hand coming up to delicately hide his mouth as he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“Perhaps there are no military applications . . . perhaps there are, but there is not always an ulterior motive to a simple conversation.”

Galen wasn’t convinced. “Of course there is. Why else would you have been at my presentation?”

Krennic hummed. “In point of fact, I was actually there to see your professor. I only caught the tail end of your speech.”

_ But all of the humiliation, _ Galen thought.

The lieutenant continued. “I saw you in that class room and it was not pity that I felt for you, but empathy. I’ve sat in that seat and contemplated giving up, just like you are right now.”

“You . . .” he asked in confusion while his eyes moved over the officer.

“My mother and father are Klausian turnip farmers on Lexrul,” Krennic said placidly.

Galen blinked several times. The officer looked so polished and sure of himself as he leaned forward. “Core world citizens will always look down on us,” he began. “They don’t think we can stomach the poison they spew at one another daily as they eat each other alive for a taste of power.”

He thought that Krennic could swallow any amount of poison lobbed his way and toss it back ten-fold. Not like Galen, who couldn’t even find enough strength to speak up during Waznes’s tirade. He sighed in response but flinched as the man put a gloved hand over his fingers. The student looked up quickly, searching for the reason that he was being touched. Krennic’s smile turned up in one corner as he picked up the datapad with his other hand and held it out.

“Now,” he said. “Tell me about your idea.”

Galen looked at the pad for a second before hesitantly taking it, but he didn’t move his other hand away. Krennic’s fingers were warm through the leather and the student felt his face heating up even as spoke.

“I call it Project Stardust.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently working on a longer(~3K) fic to add to this series. Basically it's their relationship told from another person's point of view. That one may not be out until after Christmas, because both I and my beta-reader will be travelling for the holiday. After that I'll be working on 'post divorce' fics for these two about what happened after the events of the first fic.
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!
> 
> Extra special thank you to my beta-reader Copper_Nails!


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